Baked Chicken Meatballs with Sweet Oyster Sauce

for the chicken meatballs:

1. Preheat oven to 450° F. Lightly spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the bread crumbs and milk. Once all the milk is absorbed, add the rest of the ingredients for the meatballs. With your hands, mix the ingredients just until combined, without overworking. Use a medium scoop (about 2 tablespoons) to evenly portion out meatballs. This size scoop should give you about 20 to 22 meatballs. Roll the portioned meatballs just a bit in your hands before placing them into the individual wells of the mini muffin pan. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until meatballs are fully cooked.

for the sweet oyster sauce:

1. While the meatballs are baking, prepare the sauce. Add vegetable oil and sesame oil to a medium saucepan over medium to medium-low heat. When oils are warmed, stir in garlic and ginger. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring regularly, until softened. Do not let the garlic and ginger brown. Then stir in oyster sauce, soy sauce, and honey. Simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened a bit. In a very small bowl or cup, whisk together the cornstarch and water to create a slurry. Turn up the heat on the saucepan just a bit, until the sauce is lightly bubbling. Whisk in the slurry until combined. Let sweet oyster sauce lightly bubble away for 3 to 5 minutes, just until it is thickened. Remove saucepan from heat.

for lettuce wraps and optional garnishes:

1. Remove meatballs from muffin pan to a large bowl. Drizzle hot sweet oyster sauce over the meatballs and gently fold to coat evenly.
2. To serve, place one to two meatballs in each lettuce leaf and then top with optional garnishes. A squeeze of fresh lime finishes them off.